Imani once had the happy ending that everyone wished for. She had a stable home, a steady supply of resources, and most of all - She had him. Her other half of her soul and the man that after years of back and forth courtship she caved into and married. He filled her with the most spectacular dreams and plans for the future. He built palaces and fantasies beyond her imagination with his words. They fit together like two puzzle pieces. Her eccentric nature brought him joy, kept things interesting and lively among the day-to-day grind, and always brought a optimistic viewpoint that would counter his normally realistic and bleak views. He on the other hand calmed her, he was her rock that had no trouble reigning her in when she overstepped her bounds. He made sure that she was safe and more than once smoothed over feathers she had rustled in various disputes.
They didn't have a pride. Nor could they seem to have children of their own despite countless tries. They had each other and the open plains to explore on their whim. That was enough. For a time it was Imani's personal heaven.
But no amount of happiness and love would can stave off pestilence and death.
It was not quick, nor painless. No, Imani watched for months her once strong equal deteriorate into a walking skeleton. No matter the amount of food he was given nothing held and his body grew weaker every day. Little every day tasks became a day long chore for him. Finally the agony of watching his pride crumble the day he fell down and him realizing he was no longer able to get up still haunts her to this day. She should have ended it right there. She should have given him mercy.
But she was too weak and selfish to give him the honorable death he deserved.
The day he gave up his long struggle and was taken from her lives in blurs in her memory. She can remember her wails of agony that echoed throughout the cavern they had took shelter in. Pathetic pleading to every god out there to give him more time. To switch their places if need be! To preform any service that they asked! Anything to bring him back. Because to her he truly was the most important thing in this life. She refused to go on without him.
Imani doesn't know how long to be quite honest she stayed there after she had done her best to give him a proper burial. How long it took before her voice gave out and she could cry no more. She can make her own judgement that by the way she can remember being able to count her ribs it must have been weeks of her constantly fighting off her own needs before her natural instinct to live had kicked in. It hadn't taken long after the burial for everything to go numb. The world quiet and shut out as she laid peacefully waiting for death to claim her as well.
Her body had other plans though. The intense pain of starvation snapped something in Imani. Her will to live returning as she dragged herself out of the cavern back into the world.
The moment she stepped out into the sun is something that Imani can still vividly recall. It was truly a beautiful day outside. Bird were singing. The turning of spring was bringing new life. The breeze gently caressing her face and beckoning her with the faint scent of food. She even caught laughter being carried over the wind. Utter confusion caused her to halt her forced progress forward. Truly she expected the world to look as bleak as she felt. She was expecting the skies to open up and mourn in a thunderous roar in the same way that she had. She expected life to be over.
But it wasn't. Everything had gone on like normal. The cycle of life and death continued without a care in the world. At that moment Imani learned that life no matter come what may or what tragedy you might have faced goes on. That she needed to go on. What was left of her mate was not in the cavern rotting behind her. No, his echo and legacy lived through her. It would be a massive disrespect to throw away the very thing that he had wanted more of.
It was her job to make sure that legacy and memory was not forgotten. It was now her mission in life that she continued to live in his stead and do everything that he had wanted to do.
Word count: 779 words
